Last week, ThinkLA hosted “Mobile Breakfast 2.0, ” presented by Yahoo and attended by well over 700 marketers, start-ups and media agencies. The topic this year was focused on “The Connected Consumer” and how mobile is providing new ways brands can interact with consumers. A variety of speakers and panelists spoke on IoT, Smart Homes and how advertising is evolving in this app based world.

Connected Homes

First up was Lindsey Turrentine, Editor in Chief of CNET.com who brushed on the topic of Smart Homes and how the IoT “Internet of Things” is becoming increasingly more about objects that are connected. She discussed how consumers care about two things: Solving for their problems and interacting with brands they know and love (or have heard of). Nest was one example of how brands are solving consumers problems through connecting their homes. This brand is working with another company called Big A** Fans, integrating their ceiling fans with a Nest learning thermostat to create a more energy efficient home. In closing, she discussed categories that are currently lagging in the smart home category

Mobilizing Health & Wellness

Next up was Under Armour and the dynamic duo of Chris Glode and Doug Ziewacz. Their mission is to make all athletes feel better and change the way athletes live. Through their newly launched product Health Box and linking UA Record, consumers can now connect all aspects of their health & wellness. Not only does your body have a story to tell each day, Chris went on to say, but also this product can provide cognitive coaching. Doug went into detail about how they believe in an open platform as a way to enhance products and make them better for their athletes. Products are designed to be “a proactive, immersive experience”.

Bring on the interactive storytelling through devices

The Amazon Echo and Alexa app made an appearance, with their sidekicks Jamie Scythes and Zach Parker. Zach touched upon how Alexa has the ability to cancel out background noises and picks out your voice. I had never seen one work before and he made a nice initial demonstration of the product. Jamie demonstrated Alexa and an amazing partnership with Warner Brothers and DC Comics to launch “The Wayne Investigation”. This makes use of the Alexa skills kit to participate in an old-time radio interactive adventure. Talk about using technology to stay connected with your brain and your consumer!

Next Up, how to think differently

The final session of the morning was a marketing panel of thought leaders in the industry. The key takeaways from this session focused on how brands need to think of apps as a way to advertise more efficiently to consumers as well as the advertising has to fit in with what consumers are doing on their apps. It has to make sense and fit naturally with their app activity. The media landscape is evolving and the smartphone is the remote control connecting consumers with brands. How are you leveraging your apps to take stay connected with your consumers?

This breakfast event was a great demonstration of how brands and marketers are thinking outside the box to develop connected devices and apps that can benefit consumers in more meaningful ways.